


The Way to a Man's Heart

by FledglingQueen



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Baker!Bilbo, Cooking, F/M, Fluff, firefighter!Thorin, first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 18:31:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4402679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FledglingQueen/pseuds/FledglingQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a Tumblr prompt: Bella's neighbor can't cook. Bella can't sleep through a smoke alarm. It's been three weeks and she can't take it any more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bella

Bella set her book aside, pursing her lips in an effort to hold back a swell of blood-curdling curses. A truly raucous beeping and muffled shouting came from the apartment next door. This was the third consecutive week that her neighbor had set his dinner on fire. His very late dinner. Honestly, who was still making food at nine o'clock in the evening?

  
Suddenly fed-up with the situation and desperate for an evening (just one) of uninterrupted reading before bed, Bella stood and strode confidently out her front door. With only the slightest hesitation, she went over to her neighbor's door and pounded at it with a heavy fist.

  
There was a series of thumps and muffled curses before the door flew open and Bella was greeted by a cloud of black smoke that smelled faintly of burnt vegetables. She fanned the fumes away, unimpressed, until she could make out the unfortunate man responsible for the mess.

  
Thorin Durinson was a large man. He had dark hair that was usually pulled back in a tight braid. Tonight it hung loose about his shoulders. His very broad shoulders. They were off-set by his tall, and more heavily muscled than was completely necessary, frame. Bella vaguely remembered him mentioning something about working at the firehouse when he first moved in. Despite his superior size (he towered over her own unimpressive five foot three), she refused to be cowed.

  
"Mr. Durinson, I've come to help." She rested her hands on her hips, attempting to channel her best glare of stern disapproval.

  
"Miss Baggins? I--" inside his apartment another smoke alarm started beeping. Taking advantage of his distraction, Bella ducked under his arm and darted into his apartment. Ignoring his protests, she quickly went into the kitchen and took the smoking pan of the burner.

  
Noticing that Thorin had followed her, she turned and thrust a towel into his hands. "Here, wave this at the smoke alarms until they turn off." Bella left him to his task while she went around the apartment opening all the windows. The fresh spring air helped a little to disperse the smoke, though it wasn't much defense against the smell of burnt food.

  
When the air was breathable again, Bella returned to the kitchen. Thorin was poking sadly at the black crust on the bottom of the pan that was all that remained of his dinner.

  
"Honestly, Mr. Durinson. Didn't your parents ever teach you how to cook?" Now that the alarms weren't blaring, Bella found the entire situation much more amusing.

  
Thorin turned to her, forehead creased and lips downturned in a mix of embarrassment and frustration. "I don't think it occurred to them that I would ever need to, Miss Baggins. Thank you for your help."

  
Bella waved away his thanks and started rolling up her sleeves, "I haven't even started helping you yet. Come on. We don't have all night."

  
"Started?"

  
"Well, I assume you were trying to make yourself food because you're hungry." Bella raised a delicate eyebrow, "or is there some other reason you frequently set things on fire in your kitchen?"

  
The big man flushed and Bella tried not to laugh. He dropped the burnt pan in the sink and filled it with water, trying to avoid meeting her eyes the entire time.

  
"Right. Well, my mother always told me that letting a person go hungry is the worst sin I could possibly commit." She tugged her finished sleeves into place, noting absently that she was wearing flannel pajamas with flowers printed on them. Thorin hadn't seemed to notice and there was no point in going to change now. She shoved aside any embarrassment she might have felt and set about familiarizing herself with the kitchen. "You have all the ingredients for pasta. I hope you feel like Italian."

  
"Oh, you don't have to--"

  
"Nonsense. Where are your pots?"

***

"And voila, spaghetti sans meatballs." Bella beamed up at Thorin. His nose was wrinkled in concentration as he jotted down his notes on the recipe she had written up for him.

  
"It seems so simple when I'm not the one doing it." He muttered.

  
She shrugged, "I've been cooking most of my life, so I've got it down to a science. Don't worry, you'll get better the more you practice."

  
"Would you like to join me for dinner, Miss Baggins?" Thorin tucked his pen behind his ear and gestured broadly at the table. He grinned at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling cheerfully, "There's plenty of food."

  
"Please, call me Bella. I would love to stay, Mr. Durinson, but I have the dawn shift at the bakery tomorrow and I really should be in bed." She said, trying to ignore the part of her brain screaming at her to take him up on the offer.

  
"Then you must call me Thorin. I'm sorry to keep you up so late." He walked with her to the door and held it open for her.  
Bella hesitated, trying to think of a way to suggest they do this again without sounding too presumptuous. "Don't worry about it, Thorin. I'm glad I could help."

  
"Maybe tomorrow..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "If you aren't too tired, I mean. Tomorrow you could...."

  
"How do you feel about chicken?" Bella asked, trying to keep from grinning like a loon and failing utterly.

  
Thorin's answering smile was just as bright. "Perfect."

***

That night, instead of struggling to fall asleep with smoke alarms blaring through her apartment, Bella drifted off to Thorin's distant off-tune humming.


	2. Thorin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thorin just wanted something to eat before falling into bed. He certainly didn't want his bossy little neighbor to come storming into his apartment. If only she would stop talking long enough for him to ask her to leave...

Thorin spun around, grinding out another curse as his smoke alarm started shrieking at him. He'd been trying to boil carrots. That was all. He had seen his mother boil carrots hundreds of times in his youth. He should be able to do this.

Fanning away smoke, he turned off the burner and was reaching to move the pan to the sink when he was interrupted by someone pounding at his door. Still spewing curses, Thorin stormed to the door and threw it open.

At his doorstep stood a young woman in her mid-twenties. She was small, five foot three on the outside, and the too-large flannel pajamas made her seem smaller. Her curling auburn hair was pulled back in a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She glared up at him, fanning away smoke.

"Mr. Durinson, I've come to help." She thrust her chin out and rested her hands on her hips. With a start, Thorin recognized the woman standing at his door.

"Miss Baggins? I--" The smoke alarm in his bedroom joined the one in the kitchen in its attempts to wake up the entire building. Before he could politely ask her to leave so that he could sort out this mess, she was ducking beneath his arm and into the apartment. He followed her, bemused.

She could hardly do any damage. He was more than capable of showing her out if she made too much trouble.

In the kitchen, Bella Baggins moved as though she owned the place. She took the pan off the burner and threw a towel at him with an order to shut up the smoke alarms while she opened the windows.

By the time the air cleared, Thorin had almost forgotten that he hadn't actually invited Bella over. He stood by the stove and prodded at the remains of his carrots, contemplating calling home and begging his sister to come over and make him something (anything) remotely edible.

"Honestly, Mr. Durinson. Didn't your parents ever teach you how to cook?" Bella asked. She leaned against the fridge on the other side of the stove, eyebrow raised and a small smile turning up the corners of her generous mouth.

Thorin shook his head and tried to concentrate on filling the burnt pan with water to soak. "I don't think it ever occurred to them that I would need to, Miss Baggins. Thank you for your help." _Now leave so that I can order my takeout in peace_. He added silently.

Bella shook her head and began rolling up the sleeves of her pajamas. "I haven't even started helping you yet. Come on. We don't have all night."

"Started?"

"Well, I assume you were trying to make yourself food because you're hungry." Bella raised a delicate eyebrow, "or is there some other reason you frequently set things on fire in your kitchen?"

Her little smirk was almost too much. Thorin flushed, trying not to feel like a little boy. _You are a firefighter._ He scolded himself. _You face down death every time you go to work. You are more than capable of throwing this tiny, sassy woman out on her ass. Do not be a pushover._

"Right. Well, my mother always said that letting a person go hungry was the worst sin I could possibly commit." Bella said,  ignoring his silent pep talk as she rooted through his cupboards. "You have all the ingredients for pasta. I hope you like Italian."

She couldn't possibly intend to stay? Could she? "Oh, you don't have to--"

"Nonsense. Where are your pots?"

Thorin tried not to panic.

***

"And voila, spaghetti sans meatballs." Bella set the dish firmly on the table and turned to grin at Thorin.

He quickly finished jotting down her final instructions on the recipe she had written for him when they began."It seems so simple when I'm not the one doing it." He muttered, trying to ignore the sudden impulse to tuck a loose curl back behind Bella's ear.

She took care of it before he could decide whether or not to make a move, "I've been cooking most of my life, so I've got it down to a science. Don't worry, you'll get better the more you practice." Bella said with a shrug.

"Would you like to join me for dinner, Miss Baggins?" Thorin tucked his pen behind his ear and gestured at the table with a grin, "there's plenty of food."

Compared to his usual fare, this was a veritable feast. Despite his misgivings earlier, Bella was actually excellent company. Thorin would be the first to admit that he wouldn't mind spending more time with her.

"Please, call me Bella. I would love to stay, Mr. Durinson, but I have the dawn shift at the bakery tomorrow and I really should be in bed." She smiled back at him and rocked nervously on the balls of her feet, seemingly growing timid now that her task was complete.

Thorin walked her to the door, trying to decide how to ask her out without making a complete ass of himself. "Then you must call me Thorin. I'm sorry to keep you up so late" He held the door open for her, mind going blank as she hesitated. Did she--? Was she--?

"Don't worry about it, Thorin. I'm glad I could help." She stepped outside but didn't move to leave.

Thorin scrambled, trying to find the words. "Maybe tomorrow..." No, that wasn't right, "If you aren't too tired. Tomorrow you could..."

Bella's gaze softened and she bit her lip, a smile sneaking across her face. "How do you feel about chicken?"

He grinned back, relieved beyond words. So he hadn't ruined everything! "Perfect."

***

The spaghetti was amazing, but Thorin fell asleep craving chicken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if it's bad etiquette to post both chapters on the same day? I just wanted to get it over with before I could second-guess myself. Here goes.
> 
> Quick edit, a couple of you guys commented that 5 foot 7 was not considered short in the U.S. I guess I was comparing how I (at five foot seven) usually felt surrounded by my six foot relatives. However, I realize that y'all are 100% correct. Bella is now officially below average. (THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS!!! <3)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic! Depending on how it's received I might try a few more short ones before I attempt to start on a longer one. I hope you guys like it!


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